Malaysia Airlines Quietly Removes Photo Of Mascot Teddy Bear From Twitter In Light Of Ukraine Plane Crash

In the wake of the tragic MH17 crash in Ukraine on Thursday, Malaysian Airlines quietly deleted a photo of its mascot – a teddy bear named Pilot Parker – from its Twitter account, Gawker reported.

The tweet was posted 12 hours before the Boeing 777 plane crashed. For a brief period, news about the disaster appeared directly next to the image of a teddy bear in a tiny blue pilot’s suit.

Malaysia Airlines has since replaced the post with a media statement about the Thursday crash, which killed all 280 passengers and 15 crew members. An Associated Press journalist has reportedly counted 22 bodies among the wreckage so far.

Other posts with Pilot Parker -- including this gif -- still remain on the airline's Twitter page but appear farther down the page.